Have you ever stopped to consider how many choices you make during the day?

Often when we think about decision making our minds consider the big operational decisions we make at work or in our lives. Yet the vast number of decisions we make every day are small. These choices range from what shirt to wear in the morning, to choosing a restaurant for lunch, down to what TV show to watch at night. Most of us pay little heed to these types of decisions, as they seem inconsequential beyond the moment they are made. However, sometimes these small decisions have outsized impact due to the fact that thousands or millions of people are making similar choices. This leads to the tyranny of small decisions.

In a recent article on the Big Think website, author Jonny Thomson explores how small choices can have oversized impacts. Early in the article, he explains the concept of the tyranny of small decisions.

In 1966, the economist Alfred E. Kahn first coined the term ‘tyranny of small decisions’ in an article of the same name. Kahn used this concept to describe how a series of small, individual choices could lead to an end point no one really wanted. It’s when various discrete and minor actions string together into something not desired by the decision-makers as a whole.

Kahn used as an example a train service that has lots of passengers in the winter, but little ridership in the summer. The choice the passengers make about when to take the train, seemingly inconsequential to each individual person, add up to impact the train service to the point where it could shut down.

Later on in the article, Thomson offers some examples of ways that the tyranny of small decisions can immediately impact your life and business. This first example is about skimping on training days, especially around cybersecurity.

Sixty percent of small businesses go out of business within six months of a cyberattack. Cyber-vigilance matters, and small decisions to skimp can have huge ramifications. Buying only basic internet security might save some money. Missing or having irregular cyber-awareness training might make you popular with your team. But few businesses can survive an $80 million hack.

Learn more about the tyranny of small decisions and ways to avoid them by reading the rest of the article.